Localisation firms merge

Connect Global Solutions, a Dublin-based provider of software localisation, translation and testing services, has completed a merger with Welocalize, a firm offering similar services in the US.

The combined companies will trade under the Welocalize name and now have a total annual revenue of more than US20m. The firm now has more than 100 full-time employees across five offices in four countries – the US, Ireland, Germany and Japan. Existing client teams will remain in place, the companies said in a statement.

According to E. Smith Yewell, CEO of Welocalize, the merger was under discussion for the past 15 months. Eugene McGinty, chief executive of Connect Global Solutions, will remain with the company as managing director of the Irish office, which will continue operating following the deal.

Connect was founded in 1998 in Dublin. Welocalize, which has its headquarters in Maryland, was founded one year previously and is a privately held company, backed by venture capital.

The merged entity plans to target the middle tier of the globalisation services industry which they claim has been left largely vacant since industry consolidation that has taken place since the late Nineties. The company will position itself as a mid-sized partner providing vertical market-specific expertise, global reach and scalability.